The path to a net-zero economy: carbon capture, utilization, and storage

Carbon Management Canada's Director of the Containment and Monitoring Institute Don Lawton discussed the path to a net-zero economy: carbon capture, utilization, and storage. This is a recording of a webinar he presented organized by The Partnership Group for Science and Engineering.
Climate change is a global threat with rising temperatures caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, linked mainly to the combustion of fossil fuels. Canada, along with many other nations, has committed to a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. At the April 2021 U.S. Climate Summit, Prime Minister Trudeau stated that Canada would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) offers a suite of technologies to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions that promise one pathway to this new economy. Carbon capture removes carbon dioxide from flue gases at industrial facilities or even directly from the air. The captured CO2 can be converted to useful products or stored permanently deep underground. This presentation focused on the opportunities and potential barriers for implementing these technologies at a large scale in Canada.
Don Lawton currently leads a research and commercialization program for verifying secure storage of CO2 in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. He was a co-recipient of an NSERC and Conference Board of Canada University/Industry Synergy Award in 2000, was awarded the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) Medal in 2000 and received Honorary Membership in the Society in 2014.